Here's Where You Can Rent Or Stream Every 'Friday The 13th' Movie
(Welcome to Where to Watch, which provides a clear and simple answer to the question, "Hey, where can I watch this thing?" In this edition: every Friday the 13th movie, yes, even the one where Jason goes to space.)
It's Friday the 13th, which means it's time to check in with Jason Voorhees, everyone's favorite hockey mask-wearing zombie slasher. In honor of this sacred day, I went ahead and listed exactly where you can rent or stream every Friday the 13th movie, because I want to bring you happiness, dear reader. So grab your machete, put on your swim trunks, and dive with me into Crystal Lake.
Friday the 13th
Where to stream or rent: Stream on Starz or rent for $2.99 on Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Vudu, Apple TV, Redbox.
The film that started it all. And, of course, the film where Jason Voorhees isn't actually the killer. Instead, it's Jason's crazy mom (Betsy Palmer) who is doing the hacking and slashing, furious at horny camp counselors for letting her son Jason drown years ago. Look for a young Kevin Bacon playing a guy with hair that looks like a helmet!
Friday the 13th Part 2
Where to stream or rent: Stream on Starz or rent for $2.99 on Amazon, YouTube, Vudu, Redbox.
Jason finally steps into the spotlight — but he doesn't have his iconic hockey mask just yet. Instead, Jason stalks around wearing a bag over his head, murdering youngsters and getting revenge for his now-dead mom. A rather dull entry, the franchise had nowhere to go from here but up.
Friday the 13th Part III
Where to stream or rent: Stream on Starz or rent for $2.99 on Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Vudu, Apple TV, Redbox.
Jason finally gets his hockey mask in Friday the 13th Part III. This entry was shot in 3D, which means there are a lot of scenes where characters push stuff directly into the camera. In theory, it was supposed to look like these items – be they paddle-balls or eye-balls – were flying right into the viewer's face! But now, all these years later, it's a tad awkward.
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Where to stream or rent: Stream on Starz or rent for $2.99 on Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Vudu, Apple TV, Redbox.
Jason finally meets his match: a small boy! That boy, a nerd named Tommy Jarvis, is played by Corey Feldman, and he eventually manages to stop Jason with the power of special make-up effects. But first, Jason rampages around murdering people, including king of the weirdos, Crispin Glover. Lots of fans consider this the best entry in the franchise, and it certainly is a lot of fun.
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
Where to stream or rent: Stream on Starz or rent for $2.99 on Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Vudu, Apple TV, Redbox.A New Beginning is rather infamous for being the movie where Jason isn't actually Jason. Instead, a grieving father dresses up like Jason and starts murdering kids after his own son is killed at a halfway house. If you can look past the bait-and-switch of fake Jason, you'll find A New Beginning to be pretty darn good. It's certainly one of the nastiest and bloodiest entries in the series, dipping into grindhouse territory.
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
Where to stream or rent: Stream on Starz or rent for $2.99 on Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Vudu, Redbox, or $3.99 on Apple TV.
Fans didn't want some random dude dressed as Jason, they wanted Jason! So Jason Lives brings him back, and if he wasn't already some kind of zombie before, it's pretty clear he is now. Jason is still facing off against that twerp Tommy Jarvis, all grown up and played by Thom Mathews. Also, because he's now undead, Jason is even stronger and more unstoppable than he was before.
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
Where to stream or rent: Stream on Starz or rent for $2.99 on Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Vudu, Redbox, or $3.99 on Apple TV.
I don't know what the general consensus is on The New Blood these days, but I seem to remember most folks didn't care for it. But I kind of like this weird installment, where Jason is suddenly going up against a girl (Lar Park Lincoln) with psychokinetic abilities. Sure, that's a big swerve, but so what? The franchise has already established the supernatural exists with Jason himself, so why not throw a girl with superpowers in there, too?
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
Where to stream or rent: Stream on Starz or rent for $2.99 on Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Vudu, Redbox, or $3.99 on Apple TV.
AKA Jason Spends Most of the Movie on a Boat. Jason Takes Manhattan has a killer premise — Jason in the big city! — but budget restraints resulted in a rather ho-hum affair where Manhattan doesn't make an appearance until the very end. That said, the stuff in New York is nice and grimy, and I love the film's suggestion that the New York sewers are overflowing with toxic waste.
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
Where to stream or rent: Stream on HBO Max or rent for $3.99 on Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Vudu, Redbox.Jason Goes to Hell has some of the franchise's best gore. But it's also the entry where we learn that Jason's evil spirit can jump into other bodies. As a result of this, Jason doesn't really appear much in this film. Instead, we see people possessed by Jason doing most of the killing. And honestly, that's not that fun. We want to see Jason, in his mask, doing the hacking and slashing, darn it! Anyway, this is the second entry in the franchise that has "final" in the title, but of course, that didn't turn out to be true.
Jason X
Where to stream or rent: Stream on HBO Max or rent for $2.99 on Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube, Vudu, Redbox.
Jason goes to space! Jason X looks like a very cheap Syfy original movie, but it's also a lot of fun. Jason freezes a woman's head and smashes it to pieces, throws a spear through the chest of David Cronenberg, and eventually turns into a cyborg (I think?). Very dumb. Very entertaining.
Freddy vs. Jason
Where to stream or rent: Stream on HBO Max or rent for $3.99 on Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Vudu, Redbox.
Fans had waited a very long time for Freddy vs. Jason, and they finally got it in 2003. It hasn't exactly aged well — the nu-metal soundtrack sticks out like a sore thumb. But there's plenty of fun to be had here. The story, which is admittedly messy, turns Jason into a kind of anti-hero. Sure, he still stalks around killing teens. But when it comes to Freddy and Jason, Jason is presented as the lesser of two evils while Freddy is unapologetically vicious.
Friday the 13th
Where to stream or rent: Stream on HBO Max or rent for $2.99 on Amazon, Vudu, or $3.99 on Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube, Redbox.
Lots of people seem to love this 2009 remake. I'm not one of them! I admit I enjoy the opening scene, where Jason butchers some youthful idiots looking for a marijuana farm. But after that, the film starts to go downhill. My favorite dumb moment comes when Jason shoots an arrow into someone's head, and then the film cuts to Jason's childhood bedroom where we see he won an archery trophy as a kid. As if someone, somewhere, said, "We must explain why Jason knows how to shoot a bow and arrow!"
Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th
Where to stream or rent: Stream on Shudder or rent for $2.99 on Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Vudu or $3.99 on Apple TV.
Bonus round! This exhaustive documentary (and I mean that; it clocks in at 6 hours and 40 minutes!) goes through the entire franchise, featuring interviews with cast and crew from every movie. It's informative and fun, especially if you're a big fan of Jason and his antics. Just make sure you have almost seven hours blocked off to watch this damn thing.
And here's another fun bonus: For one day only, the entire 8-film Friday the 13th collection is available for purchase for only $13.00. The usual everyday price is $49.99, and the 13-dollar-deal expires at midnight PT tonight.